The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. filed a cease-and-desist order against Concord Bank in St. Louis, ordering it to stop “unsound” banking practices and bring in new management.

In the order, which was dated Feb. 13 but made public Friday, the FDIC accused the bank of engaging in hazardous lending and lax collection practices and operating with management whose policies and practices were “detrimental” to the bank and jeopardized the safety of its deposits, and with a board that failed to provide adequate supervision.

The FDIC ordered the bank to stop operating with an “inadequate” allowance for loans and lease losses for the kind of loans it holds, and ordered the bank to create capital, profit and business plans.

Concord Bank must get permission to give bonuses and raises to senior executives, the FDIC said in the order, which was signed by Mark Moylan, deputy regional director for the FDIC’s Kansas City regional office.

The bank has already taken steps to improve its operations.

Concord hired Tony Feraro as the new president and chief executive in November to turn the bank around. He replaced Rick Hummel, who left the bank.

“The order was issued in February but this goes back seven months,” he said. “The enforcement actions are still in place. And while we can’t give numbers because they are still confidential between us, the state and the FDIC, we have showed significant improvement.”

Feraro said he’s brought in a new staff and changed the management model so the internal auditor reports directly to the board instead of the CEO.

“This new model takes us back to community banking,” he said. “I’m excited. I see this as going nowhere but up. A lot of bankers are going to be surprised by what we’ll be able to accomplish by year’s end.”

Feraro, 61, joined Concord from Silvergate Bank in La Jolla, Calif., where he had been chief executive since 2006.

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